Nov. 29, 2016
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's basketball program will travel to Boston College as a part of the 10th annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Lady Lions and Eagles will take to the floor inside of Conte Forum at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 30. The game will air live on the Penn State Sports Network.
Follow Along
Fans can follow along the contest on Twitter (@PennStateWBB), or via live stats, live video or live audio with the links to the right.
Scouting Boston College
- Boston College snapped a three-game skid on Saturday, Nov. 26 with a 73-58 decision over St. Francis Brooklyn in Boulder, Colo. The Eagles split a pair of games at the Colorado Thanksgiving Tournament, falling to SMU, 72-64, in the opening game of the event.
- This will be just the third home game of the season for BC, splitting the first two contests. The Eagles toppled Boston U., 67-49, on Nov. 14 and fell to Saint Mary's College, 62-54, on Nov. 20.
- Boston College is 37-of-116 from 3-point range on the season, with 25 of those makes coming from Kelly Hughes.
- Though the record is 2-4, Boston College owns the scoring edge on the season versus its opponents. The Eagles are plus-0.5 in points per game, with a 63.3-62.8 average score in games played.
- Senior Kelly Hughes leads the team with a 16.5 points per game average, boosted by her team-high 25 3-pointers. She also has a team-best nine steals and only 11 turnovers.
- Sophomore Mariella Fasoula paces the team with 7.3 rebounds per game and six blocked shots, while sitting third on the team with 2.8 assists per game.
Series Notes
- Wednesday's meeting will mark the third overall meeting between Penn State and Boston College with each team picking up one win in the series.
- The two teams have not squared off on the court since the 2010-11 season when Boston College notched a 113-104 overtime victory over the Lady Lions, Dec. 2, 2010.
- Prior to the 2010 meeting, Penn State took on Boston College on Dec. 29, 1984 and picked up an 85-43 victory at home.
- Boston College holds the 1-0 advantage at home after earning the high-scoring victory in the 2010 campaign.
Last Time Out -- vs. Georgetown (Nov. 25, 2016)
- Senior Peyton Whitted collected eight more rebounds to push her career total to 503 and make her the 33rd Lady Lion to reach the 500-rebound mark.
- Whitted added six points and one assist.
- Sophomore Teniya Page registered her 30th career double-figure scoring game with 16 points.
- Page now has five games in double-figures this season, with the other game being a nine-point effort vs. Georgia State (11/24/16).
- The sophomore added four assists, one rebound and one steal in the game.
- Freshman Jaida Travascio-Green netted eight points in the game, not missing a shot. She was 2-of-2 from the floor -- including a 3-pointer -- and hit all three free throws she attempted.
- Travascio-Green added four rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench.
- Penn State is now 5-2 against Georgetown in the all-time series, with the loss snapping a five game winning streak.
- With a 21-10 edge in bench points, the Penn State reserves out-scored the opposition's subs for the fifth time in six games.
- The eight lead changes were the second most in a game this season for Penn State, just behind the 10 lead changes at Drexel on Nov. 11, 2016
Last Meeting -- at Boston College (Dec. 2, 2010)
- Penn State played its third overtime contest in as many true road game to start the 2010-11 season, posting a 2-1 mark in those games.
- Sophomore Alex Bentley had a career-high 28 points on 11-of-21 shooting
- Freshman Maggie Lucas tallied a then-personal-best 28 points
- Sophomore Nikki Greene tallied her fourth career double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds
- Sophomore Mia Nickson had nine points and six rebounds in her return to Boston College. Nickson played her true freshman season for the Eagles before transferring to Penn State.
- The Lady Lions fell to 1-3 all-time in ACC/Big Ten Challenge games.
- The Eagles evened the series at 1-1 with the overtime win.
Last Five Games
- Penn State is 4-1 over its last five games.
- Teniya Page and Lindsey Spann are each averaging better than 14 points per game, with Page sitting at 19.2 and Spann boasting a 14.4 scoring average.
- Three players are averaging better than 5.0 rebounds per game over the last five contests; Kaliyah Mitchell (7.2), Peyton Whitted (6.8) and Sierra Moore (5.2).
- Penn State is plus-3.0 in turnover margin in the last five games, averaging just 13.2 missteps per game. The Lady Lions are forcing 16.3 opponent turnovers in the last five games.
- Penn State has assisted on an average of 16.0 of its 28.8 made field goals over the last five games.
- Freshman Jaida Travascio-Green scored a career-high 18 points and corralled a personal-best six rebounds vs. Georgia State on Nov. 24, 2016.
Team Tidbits
Next to 900
- In its 53rd season playing women's basketball, Penn State became just the 16th program in Division I women's basketball to earn 900 victories in program history with a convincing win over Saint Peter's, 106-50, on Sunday, Nov. 13.
- The program owns 903-439 overall record.
- Penn State joins Big Ten brethren Ohio State and Maryland in the exclusive 900-win club.
Scoreboard Workout
- Penn State wanted to make sure they played at the pace that head coach Coquese Washington wanted and to be sure all of the scoreboard's lights were working with a 106-point effort vs. Saint Peter's.
- The 106-50 win marked the 49th time in program history the Lady Lions hit the century mark and their 106 points are tied for 19th on the all-time single game scoring list.
- Furthermore, Penn State scored 64 points in the first half, marking the first time the Lady Lions scored over 60 points in a half since November 8, 2013 vs. Saint Francis (Pa.).
- The 106-point game against Saint Peter's was the first time the Lady Lions scored over 100 points since beating Saint Francis (Pa.), 117-77 in 2013.
- The Lady Lions won by 56 points, the largest margin of victory since a 101-44 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson on Dec. 2, 2012.
Opening on the Road
- Penn State opened a season on the road for the first time since the 2010-11 season (at Dayton) with an 83-60 loss at Drexel on Friday, Nov. 11.
- Since 2006-07, Penn State has now opened on the road four times; at Dayton (2010-11) and at Drexel (2016-17, 2009-10 and 2006-07).
- Starting its 53rd season on the road, Penn State has opened with a true road game on 18 occasions. The Lady Lions are 11-7 in those contests, with the season-opening loss to the Dragons snapping a three-game winning streak.
Toppling Rocky Top
- Penn State came close last season in Knoxville, but Tennessee was able to hold on for a victory on Nov. 18 in Thompson-Boling Arena, but on Nov. 20, 2016, the Lady Lions came through with a 70-56 defeat of the Lady Vols.
- The Blue and White picked up its first double-digit win over a top-25 team since it defeated No. 23/22 Iowa 87-71 Jan. 5, 2014.
- The Lady Lions improved to 2-9 all-time against Tennessee, with both wins coming at home. The victory Saturday was preceded by a 79-74 victory in Rec Hall on Jan. 27, 1985.
- Head coach Coquese Washington now has 22 wins over ranked opponents in her 10 seasons at the helm of the Lady Lion program.
Starting Strong at Home
- Penn State has won each of its first three home games, marking the 27th time in program history it has started with at least three victories to start the home slate.
- Head coach Coquese Washington has won the first three games of a home slate in seven of 10 seasons.
- The Lady Lions have 10 unblemished seasons at home, including the 2012-13 squad that went 14-0 and the 2002-03 which won a school-record 16 games.
- Of those 27 seasons, Penn State has won at least four-straight games to open a season on 24 different occasions.
Books & Basketball
- Senior guard Sierra Moore walked across the stage at the Bryce Jordan Center last April as a member of The Pennsylvania State University's graduating class of 2016.
- The Hanover, Pa., native accepted her diploma, a B.A. in broadcast & journalism, and is now working on a master's degree in human resources & employment relations.
- Moore missed the 2015-16 season due to injury (knee), after averaging 12.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 2014-15.
- The trio of Kaliyah Mitchell, Lindsey Spann and Peyton Whitted all excelled on the court and in the classroom during the 2015-16 campaign, earning Academic All-Big Ten honors.
- Along with her academic honor, Spann was an honorable mention All-Big Ten performer, as well.
- Mitchell and Whitted were also members of the Dean's List following the 2016 spring semester.
Teniya's Page
Page Putting in Work
- In 37 career games in the blue and white, sophomore Teniya Page has produced 21 games playing at least 38 minutes.
- Of those 21 games, nine of them have featured at least 40 minutes. Page produced eight games of at least 40 minutes last season and played every minute vs. Akron on Nov. 16.
- Page has not fouled out of a game in her career, reaching four fouls in only eight games.
- As a rookie, she finished ranked No. 14 in the NCAA and No. 3 in the B1G with 37.6 minutes per game.
- Perspective: Page's 16 games of at least 38 minutes last season were more than the rest of the team combined from 2015-16. Only four other players (12 times) played at least 38 minutes in a game.
Crunch Time
- As a freshman, Teniya Page averaged 5.8 points per game (35 points) in the fourth quarter of Penn State's six Big Ten victories, playing 57 of the 60 minutes.
- As a rookie, Page was 12-of-19 from the floor (.632), including 3-of-4 from three-point range. She also hit 8-of-11 free throws (.727).
- At Michigan State, Page scored eight points in the final 2:50 of the fourth quarter - including the go-ahead jumper with 1:01 remaining - to help PSU rally from a 14-point third quarter deficit for the road win over the nationally-ranked Spartans.
- At Illinois, Page scored 13 fourth quarter points to help PSU complete a come-from-behind win.
- Overall in the fourth quarter of Big Ten games, Page was 29-of-76 (.382) from the field and 10-of-20 (.500) from 3-point range. She had 16 assists and seven steals in 18 games.
Taking the Lead
- Against Georgetown on Friday, Nov. 25, Teniya Page led the team in scoring and assists, ticking off 16 points and four assists.
- It marked the eighth time in her career she led the team in both categories in the same game.
- Overall, Page has led the team in scoring on 15 occasions and paced the team in assists in 23 contests.
Reaching Double Figures
- In 37 career games, Teniya Page has reached double-figures in the scoring column on 30 occasions, including the first four games of 2016-17.
- Page scored 10-plus points in six straight games dating back to the 2015-16 season before getting only nine points vs. Georgia State on Nov. 24.
- For the Chicago native, just reaching 10 points is not enough. Of her 30 double-figure scoring games, 23 of them have seen her score more than 15 points.
- The 30 games of 10-or-more points includes one 30-point effort and seven other 20-point games.
B1G POTW
- After averaging 26.0 points per game and leading the Lady Lions to a pair of wins, including a victory over then No. 13 Tennessee, Teniya Page was named Big Ten Player of the Week.
- Page also averaged 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game on the week.
- It is the first Player of the Week honor for Page and her second career B1G honor, earning Freshman of the Week once during the 2015-16 season.
Spann's Storyboard
Spann Hits for 30, Again
- Only 10 Lady Lions have every posted multiple games with 30 points in a career, and junior Lindsey Spann is one of them after a career-high 31-point effort vs. Saint Peter's on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2016.
- Spann connected on 13-of-18 shots - including 4-of-8 from 3-point range - and made her only free throw attempt on her way to 31 tallies.
- Her 31 points are tied for No. 10 on the single game charts in 2016-17 and she is one of just 17 players to top the 30-point mark this season.
- Spann notched 30 points on Jan. 3, 2016 at Minnesota, making 10-of-18 shots, including seven 3-pointers. She made three free throws vs. the Gophers.
- In 2015-16, Spann and Teniya Page became just the second set of teammates to reach the 30-point mark during the same season. In 1999-2000, Maren Walseth netted 35 points vs. Michigan (1/27/2000) and Lisa Shepard had 31 points vs. St. Joseph's (11/27/1999).
Long Range Lindsey
- In just 66 career games, Lindsey Spann has ascended into the upper echelon of the single season and career charts for 3-point shooting at Penn State.
- Her 110 makes from 3-point range make her just the 14th player in Penn State history to hit the century mark from distance.
- She is currently four shy of passing Lynn Dougherty (113, 1989-92) for 13th on the career list.
- Her 65 makes from long range in 2015-16 sit tied with Kelly Mazzante (2000-01) for No. 11 on the single season charts.
- Spann's seven three-pointers at Minnesota were the most in a single game in 2015-16 for Penn State and sit tied for No. 4 on the Lady Lion single game charts.
- She connected on at least two three-pointers in six straight games from Jan. 10 - Jan. 27, before going 0-for-3 against Purdue (1/30).
Spann Solid from The Stripe
- Junior Lindsey Spann has moved her named into the discussion as one of the top free throw shooters in school history.
- Spann has made 122-of-154 shots from charity stripe in her career to rank No. 13 on the career free throw percentage list at .792.
- Her .877 free throw percentage (57-of-65) in 2015-16 ranks tied for No. 8 on the single season charts with Jess Strom's 71-of-81 effort in 2002-03.
Moore Is Better
- Sierra Moore missed the entire 2015-16 season due to injury, meaning her last on-court appearance came on March 3, 2015 in the Big Ten Tournament.
- Her absence spanned 617 days and she returned on Friday, Nov. 11 at Drexel.
- Moore tied for the team lead with 15 points, connecting on 7-of-8 shots from the floor and 1-of-2 attempts from the free throw line. She added four rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes on the floor.
- Moore reached double figures in three of her first four games in 2016-17.
Doubling Up
- The first double-double of the 2016-17 season came via a 17-point, 12-rebound effort from Kaliyah Mitchell on Wednesday, Nov. 16 evening vs. Akron.
- For Mitchell, it marked the eighth double-double of her career. She posted four as a sophomore in 2014-15 and three as a junior in 2015-16.
- Mitchell followed that with a 12-point, 11-rebound effort vs. No. 13/13 Tennessee. It is the second time in her career she has posted back-to-back double-doubles, the first time coming on Jan. 22 and Jan. 25 vs. Indiana and Northwestern, respectively.
- Peyton Whitted added to this list with her 15-point, 11-rebound effort off the bench vs. Georgia State on Friday, Nov. 25 at the San Juan Shootout.
- Along with Mitchell (9) and Whitted (8), Sierra Moore (3) is the only other Lady Lion with career double-doubles.
500 Club
- More exclusive than Penn State's 1,000-point club, the 500-rebound group currently has just 33 members. However, two of those are seniors Kaliyah Mitchell and Peyton Whitted.
- Mitchell secured her 500th rebound in the opening game of the 2016 Big Ten Tournament vs. Illinois and enters today with 549 career boards.
- With just 15 rebounds, Mitchell can move into the No. 25 slot, currently held by Kelly Mazzante (2001-04), who nabbed 563 career rebounds.
- For Whitted, notched rebounds No. 500 vs. Georgetown on Nov. 25 in Dayton Beach, Fla. to become the 33rd member of the club, thanks largely to her 256-rebound season in 2015-16.
Rookies Get First Taste
- True freshmen Siyeh Frazier and Jaida Travascio-Green each recorded the first official playing time of their respective careers in the season opener at Drexel.
- Travascio-Green connected on her first career attempt from the field, a 3-point basket with 1:33 left in the first quarter to push Penn State's lead to six points at the time.
- Overall, Travascio-Green would end the night with six points and two rebounds in 13 minutes of court time.
- Frazier played three minutes and had one assist in her first collegiate action.
ACC/B1G Challenge
- The 1016-17 season marks the 10th season of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and Penn State owns a 2-7 overall mark in the first nine events.
- In the inaugural event, Penn State toppled No. 10 Duke, 86-84, at the Bryce Jordan Center. The only other win came four years later vs. No. 14 North Carolina in the BJC, 103-84.
- Boston College becomes the first two-time opponent in the event for the Lady Lions. The two teams also met on Dec. 2, 2010, with BC claiming a 113-104 decision, the second-highest scoring game in program history.
Team - 1st Meeting - Record
Dec. 2, 2007 - host #10 Duke - W, 86-84
Dec. 3, 2008 - at Florida State - L, 60-73
Dec. 2, 2009 - host #23 Georgia Tech - L, 60-64
Dec. 2, 2010 - at Boston College - L, 104-113 (OT)
Nov. 30, 2011 - host #14 North Carolina - W, 103-84
Nov. 29, 2012 - at Miami (Fla.) - L, 65-69
Dec. 4, 2013 - host #5 Notre Dame - L, 67-77
Dec. 4, 2014 - at #21 Syracuse - L, 39-61
Dec. 3, 2015 - host Virginia Tech - L, 59-64
Against the Atlantic Coast
- Penn State owns a 90-28 record against the current alignment of the Atlantic Coast Conference, including a 1-1 mark vs. Boston College.
- The Lady Lions have met 14 of the 15 teams currently in the conference, owning a winning record against eight of them.
- The most frequent ACC team in the Lady Lion record books have been Pitt (40) and Syracuse (19), while Wake Forest is the lone ACC university not yet on the all-time ledger.
Next Up
- Penn State returns home to face Marshall on Saturday, Dec. 3 at the Bryce Jordan Center. The Lady Lions and Thundering Herd will tip off at 1 p.m., with the game carried live on the Penn State Radio Network.